Few objects in contemporary high-fashion culture carry the emotional charge of a Jane Birkin handbag. It is a symbol, a story, and a legend shaped by the woman herself. Now, for the first time in over fifteen years, one of Jane Birkin’s own Birkins, the deeply worn, intimately inscribed black Birkin she carried across the world between 2003 and 2007, is coming to auction in Abu Dhabi. Offered as part of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week, the bag appears under the poetic title Le Birkin Voyageur, a name inspired by Birkin’s own handwritten note inside: “Mon Birkin bag qui m’a accompagnée dans le monde entier”.
Set against the refined backdrop of The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort from 2 to 5 December, the event marks the first major Sotheby’s marquee auction week in the region, presented in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. With an estimate of $240,000 to $440,000, Le Birkin Voyageur arrives on the heels of a record-shattering moment. In July 2025, Jane Birkin’s original Hermès prototype sold at Sotheby’s Paris for an unprecedented $10.1 million, becoming the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction and rewriting the benchmarks of both luxury collecting and cultural nostalgia.
What sets this piece apart is not only provenance but personality. Birkin, famously unbothered by conventional luxury codes, wore her bags into softness, letting time, travel, and life write themselves into the leather. Inside this Birkin, she went a step further, filling the pockets with handwritten silver-ink notes and small, whimsical drawings. These touches transform the bag from fashion object to personal relic, its interior a quiet archive of Jane Birkin’s private gestures.
The design itself also carries a rare detail, closed bridges, an element not found on any Hermès Birkin made for public sale. Worn edges, softened handles, faint silver drawings, the gentle collapse of box leather over time, every detail is evidence of a life lived in motion, a world travelled through the lens of one bag. The Birkin has long defined the category of ultra handbags, objects created for retail but almost unattainable without long waits or the right relationship. Yet even among these, a Birkin tied to Jane Birkin herself remains the rarest possible acquisition.
Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week now becomes the stage for this next chapter. The event brings together exceptional jewellery, rare watches, iconic automobiles, blue-chip art, and ultra-luxury real estate, all presented within the cultural orbit of Saadiyat Island. Among the highlights are The Desert Rose, the largest Fancy Vivid Orangy Pink Diamond ever graded, and a complete Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 set, estimated at over $10 million. Yet Le Birkin Voyageur is poised to be the emotional centrepiece. In Abu Dhabi, Le Birkin Voyageur begins its next voyage.
